Yassine Bounou (Arabic: ياسين بونو; born 5 April 1991), also known as Bono, is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Sevilla and the Morocco national team.
![]() Bounou with Morocco in 2022 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Yassine Bounou[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1991-04-05) 5 April 1991 (age 31)[1] | ||
Place of birth | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||
Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Sevilla | ||
Number | 13 | ||
Youth career | |||
1999–2010 | Wydad Casablanca | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2010–2012 | Wydad Casablanca | 11 | (0) |
2012–2014 | Atlético Madrid B | 47 | (0) |
2014–2016 | Atlético Madrid | 0 | (0) |
2014–2016 | → Zaragoza (loan) | 35 | (0) |
2016–2020 | Girona | 83 | (0) |
2019–2020 | → Sevilla (loan) | 6 | (0) |
2020– | Sevilla | 76 | (1) |
National team‡ | |||
2011–2012 | Morocco U20 | 4 | (0) |
2011–2012 | Morocco U23 | 4 | (0) |
2013– | Morocco | 45 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 September 2022 (UTC) |
He spent most of his career in Spain, making over 100 La Liga appearances for Girona and Sevilla, and 56 in Segunda División for Zaragoza and Girona. He won the UEFA Europa League for Sevilla in 2020.
A full international for Morocco since 2013, Bounou represented his nation at the FIFA World Cup 2018 and three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments. He previously played for the under-23 team at the 2012 Olympics.
Born in Montreal, Quebec,[3] Bounou moved to Morocco at an early age, and made his senior debut with Wydad Casablanca in 2011, after being promoted to the first-team a year earlier.
On 14 June 2012, Bounou moved to La Liga club Atlético Madrid, being initially assigned to the reserves in Segunda División.[4] He appeared regularly for the team on the bench as a third keeper, and signed a new four-year deal on 31 May 2013.[5] In the summer of 2014, after profiting from Thibaut Courtois and Daniel Aranzubia's departures, he was definitively promoted to the main squad. He made his first-team debut on 24 July 2014, in a 1–0 pre-season friendly win against CD Numancia.[6]
On 1 September 2014, Bounou was loaned to the Segunda División's Real Zaragoza, in a season-long deal.[7] Kept out by Óscar Whalley for the first half of the campaign, he made his debut the following 11 January in a 5–3 loss at UD Las Palmas, and finished the season with 16 appearances. In the play-offs,[8] after Whalley's performance led to a 0–3 home loss to Girona FC in the first leg, Bounou replaced him in the second for a 4–1 win and advancement on away goals;[9] Zaragoza lost the final by the same rule to UD Las Palmas. On 23 July 2015, he returned to the Aragonese side, again in a one-year loan deal.[10]
On 12 July 2016, Bounou signed a permanent two-year contract with fellow league team Girona.[11] He played exactly half of games in his first season – sharing with René Román – as they were promoted in second place. In January 2019, now first choice at the top-flight club, he extended his contract until June 2021.[12]
On 2 September 2019, after suffering relegation with the Catalans, Bono joined Sevilla FC in the top tier, on loan for one year.[13] Second-choice to Tomáš Vaclík in the league season, he played regularly in the domestic cup and as the side won the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League, earning plaudits for his performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the quarter-finals as he saved a penalty from Raúl Jiménez to earn a 1–0 win,[14] also in the 2–1 semi-final win over Manchester United,[15] and eventually his decisive save of Romelu Lukaku's one-on-one strike, to win the final 3–2 against Inter Milan.[16]
On 4 September 2020, Bono signed a permanent four-year contract with the Andalusians.[17] The following 21 March, in the last minute of a match against Real Valladolid, he scored his first goal as a professional goalkeeper to secure a 1–1 draw.[18]
Bounou was eligible to represent Canada or Morocco,[19] but opted to represent the latter, appearing with the under-20 team at the 2012 Toulon Tournament, playing in one match during the competition. He was also selected in the 18-man under-23 squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but acted as a backup to Mohamed Amsif during the tournament, in which Morocco were eliminated at the group stage.
On 14 August 2013, Bounou was called up to the main squad for a friendly match against Burkina Faso.[20] He made his debut in the following day, playing the entire second half of an eventual 1–2 defeat in Tangier.[21]
In May 2018 Bounou was named in Morocco's 23-man squad for the World Cup in Russia,[22] At the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt he was first choice for Hervé Renard's team, keeping clean sheets in 1–0 wins over Namibia and the Ivory Coast to qualify for the last 16.[23][24]
Bounou was also called up for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.[25] At the tournament, he made headlines for his defence of Arabic and refusal to speak to the press in any other language.[26][27][28][29][30][31]
On 10 November 2022, Bounou was named in Morocco's 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[32][33]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Wydad Casablanca | 2010–11 | Botola | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
2011–12 | Botola | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||
Total | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | |||
Atlético Madrid B | 2012–13 | Segunda División B | 24 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 0 | |||
2013–14 | Segunda División B | 23 | 0 | — | — | — | 23 | 0 | ||||
Total | 47 | 0 | — | — | — | 47 | 0 | |||||
Atlético Madrid | 2013–14 | La Liga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Zaragoza (loan) | 2014–15 | Segunda División | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
2015–16 | Segunda División | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||
Total | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |||
Girona | 2016–17 | Segunda División | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | La Liga | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 0 | |||
2018–19 | La Liga | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | |||
Total | 83 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 84 | 0 | ||||
Sevilla (loan) | 2019–20 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 18 | 0 | |
Sevilla | 2020–21 | La Liga | 33 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 5[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 45 | 1 |
2021–22 | La Liga | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10[lower-alpha 6] | 0 | — | 41 | 0 | ||
2022–23 | La Liga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
Total | 82 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 1 | ||
Career total | 255 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 298 | 1 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Morocco | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
2014 | 0 | 0 | |
2015 | 3 | 0 | |
2016 | 2 | 0 | |
2017 | 2 | 0 | |
2018 | 4 | 0 | |
2019 | 10 | 0 | |
2020 | 4 | 0 | |
2021 | 8 | 0 | |
2022 | 11 | 0 | |
Total | 45 | 0 |
Wydad Casablanca
Sevilla
Individual
Sevilla FC – current squad | |
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Morocco squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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La Liga Zamora Trophy | |
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